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2. 312 units of fully automatic washing machines had been imported by M/s RBS Home Appliances Pvt Ltd (appellant in Appeal C/190/08) on the strength of Special Import Licence No 0011315 dated 27.12.1996. A Bill of Entry was filed for the clearance of these goods. It was assessed by the proper officer of customs and, on the basis of his order, the goods were cleared on payment of duty. In the year 1998, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) unearthed cases of forgery of Special Import Licences (SILs) by certain importers including one M/s Reliable Overseas. It was found that SIL No 0011315 dated 27.12.1996, whereunder the goods in question were imported, stood in the name of M/s Reliable Overseas. This licence was found to have been transferred to one M/s Blue Star Enterprises and subsequently to one M/s Milan Enterprises and then to M/s RBS Home Appliances Pvt Ltd. The licence in the hands of M/s RBS Home Appliances Pvt Ltd showed that it had been used in October 1997 for import of one consignment of computer parts etc of CIF value of Rs 2,26,616/- and subsequently a consignment of cotton fabrics valued at Rs 59,735/- CIF. The total CIF value assigned by the licensing authority (DGFT) was Rs 1,29,83,870/-. After deducting the value of the aforesaid imports, M/s RBS Home Appliances had a net value of Rs 1,26,97,519/-, out of which Rs 24,07,561 was utilized for the importation of washing machines covered by the aforesaid Bill of Entry. Though the investigations against the original licensee were commenced as early as in 1998, no enquiries were made against the transferees of the licence till 9.8.2006 when a summons was issued to Smt Jagruti Jayraj Pandit, Finance Manager of M/s RBS Home Appliances. A statement was recorded from Smt Jagruti Jayran Pandit under Section 108 of the Customs Act, wherein she stated that a Special Import Licence had been obtained from M/s Milan Enterprises. When confronted with documents issued from the office of the DGFT, Bhopal, she admitted that the said licence was a forged one. However, she did not accept the suggestion of the interrogating officer that their company was liable for consequences of the offence committed by the original licensee. Similar statements were given by other functionaries of M/s RBS Home Appliances. A statement of one Shri Murari Shah, proprietor of M/s Milan Enterprises was also recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act. He denied having sold the licence to M/s RBS Home Appliances. He also stated that he did not known M/s Blue Star Enterprises. He also pleaded ignorance of the identity of the person (one Mr Agarwal), from whom, according to Smt Jagruti, the licence had been purchased. A statement of one Shri Panchena Gopinath, Senior General Manager of Reliable Group was also recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, wherein he stated inter alia that his company namely M/s Reliance Overseas had not obtained SIL No 0011315 dated 27.12.1996 from DGFT and therefore there was no question of its transfer to anybody else by them. In that statement, he also stated that the I.E. Code mentioned in the above licence did not belong to M/s Reliable Overseas. When a transfer note of M/s Reliable Overseas certifying transfer of the licence for Rs 1,29,83,870/- to M/s Blue Star Enterprises, New Delhi was shown to him, Shri Gopinath stated that the letter head used for the transfer note was not theirs, nor was the signature in the transfer note that of any of their partners or officials. Finally Shri Gopinath expressed the doubt that the transfer note itself was a forged or fabricated document. After completing the enquiries, the department issued a show-cause notice to M/s RBS Home Appliances, Smt Jagruti Jayraj Pandit and others proposing to confiscate the goods covered by the Bill of Entry under Section 111 (d) and (o) of the Customs Act, 1962 as also to impose penalties on the noticees under Section 112 of the Act. These proposals were contested. It was in adjudication of this dispute that the Commissioner passed the aforesaid order.